Vehicle battery systems having a battery with battery cells and a cooling device in which to cool the battery are used in particular in electric and hybrid vehicles. A high quantity of energy is removed from battery systems of this type within short periods of time and is also fed back by regeneration. Due to the internal resistance of the battery cells, these heat up during this process, whereby, inter alia, the service life of the battery cells is reduced. A cooling of the battery cells is therefore necessary. Heat sinks are normally used to cool, in which a coolant flows through channels within the heat sink. The battery cells of the battery system or, for example, of a module of the battery system are arranged on the heat sink such that there is good thermal contact between the cells and the heat sink and heat may thus be transferred effectively from the battery cells to the heat sink. A coolant distributor is used for the introduction and discharge of the coolant into and out from the channels in the heat sink.
A device to cool a vehicle battery is known from German Patent Publication No. DE 10 2008 027 293 A1. This device comprises a heat sink having channels through which a fluid may flow, wherein electric storage elements are in thermal contact with the heat sink. To distribute the fluid among the channels of the heat sink, a collector is provided on the end face of the heat sink. The connection between the collector and the heat sink is produced by inserting the collector into grooves in the heat sink and by subsequent soldering in a soldering furnace.
A battery model having an extruded housing with inner cooling channels and a distributor for the cooling medium is known from U.S. Patent Publication No. 2011/0027640 A1, wherein the distributor is welded or soldered to the housing.
The production of a weld seam or solder seam is associated with a high manufacturing outlay, since the seam has to be produced in a fluid-tight manner. In addition, the heat sink may heat up owing to the introduction of heat during the welding process, with the result that the connection of the heat sink to the battery cells is compromised.
A cooling module having a distributor and also a heat sink consisting of cooling plates and hollow profiles with coolant passages is known from WO 2012/028298 A2. The hollow profiles may be connected to the distributor by means of adhesive bonding, inter alia.
Lastly, French Patent Publication No. 2642155 A1 presents an adhesive interface on a heat exchanger, wherein adhesive is filled into a groove. A tube is inserted into the groove.
Such disclosures, however, fail to teach how an adhesively bonded joint is to be produced for a cooling device of a vehicle battery system so that continuous functionality of the cooling device is in fact provided.